Join us for the first annual Wisconsin Botanical Foray!  The Foray is a weekend of camping, comradery, and, of course, collecting plants!  This event is being sponsored by the Wisconsin State Herbarium and the Botanical Club of Wisconsin.  It will be held at Crex Meadows State Wildlife Area and will include exploration of the nearby Fish Lake State Wildlife Area and Amsterdam Slough State Wildlife Area.

A Foray is different from your typical field trip or bioblitz because during a Foray we actually collect voucher specimens in order to document the vegetation of an area.  All plant specimens collected during the Foray will be deposited at the Wisconsin Sate Herbarium and become part of their permanent collection.  A Foray is also different because it is a multiday event. The Foray will begin on Thursday evening (August 9^th) and go until Sunday morning (August 12^th).  Participants can pitch a tent at the group campsite or sleep in the barracks-style bunkhouse.  A few small rustic cabins are also available.  Restrooms and bathhouses are onsite.  If you do not wish to camp, you can meet us in the morning and just stay for the day.

On Friday and Saturday mornings we will meet at 8:30 a.m. at the “Foray Headquarters” and break into groups of 4 to 5 participants.  Each group will go to a different section or community type within the State Wildlife Area and will collect all plants that are either flowering or fruiting (except rare plants which will be photo-vouchered).  We will collect plants all day and then return to camp no later than 4:00 p.m. to put the specimens into presses for drying.  On Saturday evening, we will have a pasta dinner for all participants and on all evenings, we will have campfires (weather permitting).

If you would like to participate please RSVP to Mary Ann Feist at mfeist@wisc.edu or (608) 890-1427.  Please let us know which days you will attend, whether you will stay for the pasta dinner and if you will stay overnight.

Foray Headquarters and Camping Area will be at the:

Crex Meadows Wildlife Education and Visitor Center

102 East Crex Avenue

Grantsburg, WI 54840

(https://www.crexmeadows.org/)

Meadow Rue at Crex Meadows. (Photo: Derek Anderson)	Trumpeter Swans at Crex Meadows.(Photo: Derek Anderson)
The results of a foray held in Washington state by the Burke Museum in 2016.  (Photo: Burke Museum)	Pressing plants at the Idaho Botanical Foray in 2018. (Photo: Mary Ann Feist)

Botanical Club of Wisconsin T-shirts now available! 

The shirts feature a drawing by Wisconsin artist Jim McEvoy of Fassett's locoweed, one of the few plants endemic to the Badger State.

                       Click here to order

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